Coffee Problems
by Lady Nagini
Summary: Kathryn's got coffee problems, and Chakotay's apparently the only one who can make her feel better...CHAPTER FOUR IS UP! (dinner)
1. Addiction

--Disclaimer-- Paramount owns all rights to characters, sets, yadda yadda yadda. I own nothing but the plots. All hail Paramount and TPTB…unless of course you're referring to Endgame. Then shoot them. 

--Warning-- I am an avid J/Cer. If you are offended by this, do not keep reading. The following material may contain oodles of unbelievably cheesy J/C. Deal with it.

--R/R ing-- Please r/r. Flames welcome, as long as they're not along the lines of 'I hate this story. It sucks.' Flames gotta have a REASON. Then I'm fine. 

--A/N-- This is an experiment – a kind of challenge to myself. I'm taking an old drabble that I wrote a while ago, modifying it (basically stretching it out and adding details, since drabbles are detail-starved) and trying to develop an entire story around it. I really don't know how it's going to turn out, but I guess we'll find out. If you want to find the original drabble, it's the second one under my 'Drabbles' fic page. I know this chapter is disgustingly short, but this was the only place I could find to break it up. Happy reading. :)

--Coffee Problems--

--Chapter 1 – Addiction--

"Join me for dinner?"

"Huh- what? Oh, yes, sure."

"1900 hours? My quarters? I'll replicate something nice. Wine, maybe."

"It sounds great, Chakotay. I'll see you then," she smiled gratefully. She sighed as the doors swished softly shut. She had been surviving on coffee all day – at the last count it had been about fourteen cups. She was running out of her own rations, and Leola Root, Brussels Sprout and Ktarian Chicken Liver Casserole (compliments of Neelix) didn't sound too appetizing. Hell, it didn't sound palatable, let alone appetizing. She sank down on the ergonomically cushioned seat of her ready room. Right about now, it didn't feel all that comfortable. She supposed after ten straight hours, nothing would feel comfortable.

Her door chimed. "Come in," she called. She desperately hoped it wasn't anything pressing; her head hurt too much to deal with it.

It was Tuvok. "Captain," he began, "I noticed that you have been in this room for ten hours. Even you require rest and nourishment once in awhile. You are no longer on duty, so I suggest you either replicate something adequate or eat in the mess hall. Even you, Captain, cannot survive on coffee alone."

She tried to fight a smile. This was the closest Tuvok would ever get to reprimanding her for her eating and resting habits. "Tuvok, I have piles and piles of PADDs to wade through. I plan to leave in a few hours. Commander Chakotay invited me to dinner, and so I guess I'll be forced to leave then." Kathryn rose to get another cup of coffee.

She could have sworn a ghost of a smile flitted across the impassable Vulcan's face. "If it suits you, Captain."

Kathryn could smell the deliciously hot coffee wafting to her nose. She took a slow, blissful sip. Then she promptly screamed in agony and dropped the cup.

Tuvok rushed to her side. "Captain? Are you injured?"

Her head felt like there were red-hot coals being tossed around inside. The pain was getting more intense, and Kathryn promptly collapsed.

He slapped his commbadge. "Tuvok to sickbay. Medical emergency. Two to beam directly to sickbay."

--Please r/r. Come on, it's not that hard. Just press the button down there, and fill out the form. I'll be eternally grateful…please? Thanks!--


	2. Cold Turkey

--Disclaimer-- Paramount owns all rights to characters, sets, yadda yadda yadda. I own nothing but the plots. All hail Paramount and TPTB…unless of course you're referring to Endgame. Then shoot them.

--Warning-- I am an avid J/Cer. If you are offended by this, do not keep reading. The following material may contain oodles of unbelievably cheesy J/C. Deal with it.

--R/R ing-- Please r/r. Flames welcome, as long as they're not along the lines of 'I hate this story. It sucks.' Flames gotta have a REASON. Then I'm fine. 

--A/N--This is kind of a boring chapter. It's basically exposition (setting the scene) for the J/C that will eventually follow. Happy reading. :)

--Coffee Problems--

--Chapter 2 – Cold Turkey

Kathryn awoke, laying on a cold biobed. Where was she? She felt completely disoriented, and she tried to open her eyes. Bad idea. She quickly shut them again before the pain threatened to make her pass out.

"Ah, good. You're awake. The medication should be kicking into effect right about now." Was she imagining things? The Doctor sounded like he was trying not to laugh. First Tuvok, now him.

She slowly, cautiously, opened her eyes again. The pain was rapidly lessening, although she still felt as if she had a particularly bad hangover.

"I'm afraid…that I have some bad news, Captain?"

"What is it?" she croaked. She cleared her throat, then tried it again. "What is it?"

"Well, I'm afraid that this headache was caused by an…allergic reaction."

"An allergic reaction? To what? All I had was coffee…" she stopped as she realized what she was saying. "No!"

"I'm afraid so. You have developed an allergic reaction to coffee, Captain," he said with a half-smirk.

"I have NOT! It's not possible! No!"

"Captain, it will be a lot easier if you don't go into denial about this."

"Isn't there at least something you can give me to counteract the allergy? Like a hypospray or a booster or something? Please?"

The Doctor tried to hide a smile, covering it by clearing his holographic throat. "I'm afraid not, Captain." He tapped his commbadge. "Doctor to Commander Chakotay. The Captain is awake. I thought you might like to know."

"Acknowledged. On my way."

A few minutes of head shaking and screaming later, he walked in. "Is she okay, Doctor? Why did she pass out?"

"Why don't you ask the Captain?"

"Kathryn?"

"No! I'm not okay! I'll never be okay again!" Kathryn sniffled. 

He paused, confused. "Doctor?"

The Doctor sighed. "Commander, the Captain has just found out that she has developed an allergy to coffee beans."

Chakotay stopped, shocked. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, dammit! I'm allergic to coffee! It's not fair!"

Chakotay could only laugh helplessly at the expression on Kathryn's face. "Stop laughing. It's not funny!"

He chose to ignore her, instead asking,  "Doctor, how did this happen? She's been drinking coffee for- well, as long as I've known her. And quite possibly a good deal longer."

"Well, some types of allergies are caused by- er, consuming large amounts of a substance for long periods of time."

"Like Kathryn and coffee."

"Precisely. Since the large amounts of caffeine in coffee are essentially a drug, she started experiencing symptoms of drug overdose."

"Wait, wait, wait. I OD'd on coffee?" Kathryn interrupted incredulously.

"Well, I wouldn't put it so bluntly, but in layman's terms, yes, you essentially overdosed on coffee."

She sighed. "Can I at least go? Or do I have to be held hostage in sickbay for longer?"

"Well, since I've removed all the coffee from your system, you're free to go. As long as you don't have any more coffee, that is. And try to get some rest; it'll help your body recover."

She turned to glare at the Doctor, but Chakotay intervened. "Come on, Kathryn. I'll take you to your room."

--Please r/r. Come on, it's not that hard. Just press the button down there, and fill out the form. I'll be eternally grateful…please? Thanks!--


	3. Withdrawal

--Disclaimer-- Paramount owns all rights to characters, sets, yadda yadda yadda. I own nothing but the plots. All hail Paramount and TPTB…unless of course you're referring to Endgame. Then shoot them.

--Warning-- I am an avid J/Cer. If you are offended by this, do not keep reading. The following material may contain oodles of unbelievably cheesy J/C. Deal with it.

--R/R ing-- Please r/r. Flames welcome, as long as they're not along the lines of 'I hate this story. It sucks.' Flames gotta have a REASON. Then I'm fine. 

--A/N-- I have absolutely NO idea when I'm gonna get this chapter done. I have finals next week (Jan 21-23), and I really should be studying. If, somehow, I manage to finish this chapter and study for finals, you all must hail me as some sort of genius. If not, then, well…I hope all you previous reviewers out there haven't lost interest in my unfinished story. And again, this is one of those awkward in-between chapters. There's not really much action going on. Unless you count Kathryn getting undressed to be action. Happy reading. :)

--Coffee Problems--

--Chapter 3 – Withdrawal--

"Kathryn…are we still on for dinner tonight?"

She sighed. "Uh…yeah. Sure. Why not? Just- don't make anything too complicated. I'll eat anything, as long as Neelix hasn't touched it."

Her companion smacked her playfully. The teasing evident in his baritone, he reproached her, "Kathryn! I thought Starfleet Captains were supposed to be diplomatic."

"There's only so much even we can take. That's why we all have first officers," Kathryn laughed in response.

They stopped in front of her door, and Kathryn entered, voicing her authorization code.

"Kathryn…is there anything I can do to help?

She smiled. "Well, I don't really think so. I'll be feeling awful for a few days – I don't know how I'll possibly get up in the morning without coffee. But I guess I'll have to start drinking energy blends or something," Kathryn finished with a shudder.

Chakotay still had his doubts about a coffee-free Kathryn. It was definitely what he'd been vying for, but actually getting his wish would be a little surreal. "If you're sure…then I guess I'll see you at dinner. Get some rest, Kathryn."

"Oh, I will. I think falling asleep is the only way I'll be able to keep my mind off coffee."

A grin appeared on his dark face. "This is going to be so much fun."

"Oh shut up, Chakotay."

He retreated, the doors softly swooshing shut behind him. Kathryn groaned and picked up a nearby PADD. Maybe reading B'Elanna's latest Engineering report would keep her busy. She glanced at the title and closed her eyes in dismay. 'Ways to increase warp core output efficiency by up to 0.047%'. That wouldn't distract her; she'd need coffee just to keep her awake through reading it. And thinking about coffee would lead to cravings, which would lead to- _Stop, _she told herself. _You're not going to think about coffee any longer. There's no such thing. Think about…anything else. Tuvok, for example. Or Tom's latest Holodeck program._

Dropping the Engineering report, Kathryn instead picked up her new favorite Delcara Lewis novel. She'd started reading it over three weeks ago; lately, however, it seemed as if she hadn't had enough time to get through more than a few pages before someone interrupted. Maybe this would keep her occupied. She fell back onto her couch, thumbing through the chapters until she reached where she had left off. Sinking into the comfortable cushions, Kathryn began to read.

Exactly forty-seven minutes later, she sighed. She'd thought about coffee on an average of twice every five minutes; this obviously wasn't working. Maybe a nice, relaxing, hot bubble bath would help take her mind off things. Still in her uniform, Kathryn stumbled into her adjoining bathroom, making her way to the tub. She turned the hot water on full blast and poured lavender-scented bubble bath under the running stream. She slowly took off her clothes and sunk into the myriad of bubbles, reveling in the feeling of the steaming bath.

Later, Kathryn toweled herself off and checked the time. It was 1730 hours, so that still gave her well over an hour to get ready for dinner. Picking some lightly scented lavender lotion and perfume, she rummaged through her closet for something to wear. She finally settled on a sheer white blouse paired with loose-fitting green cloth pants. Brown loafers completed the casual outfit. The entire loose, earthy ensemble vaguely reminded Kathryn of New Earth, and that was definitely the look she was going for. She carefully daubed on some sheer makeup and headed to the replicator. She was visibly restraining herself from ordering a steaming cup of coffee. _No. Focus on the matter at hand here,_ she reminded herself. What could she bring for Chakotay? A book, perhaps. Mentally scanning through the ones she had seen on his shelf, Kathryn decided on Angela's Ashes. He would appreciate that book, she knew. It wasn't on the required Academy list, and she hadn't ever heard him talk about it. Kathryn assumed he hadn't read it. And even if he had, she was pretty sure Chakotay didn't have a print copy aboard _Voyager_.

"Computer, what time is it?"

_"1845 hours."_

She would head out in ten minutes. Meanwhile, she grabbed her Delcara Lewis novel and slouched back onto the couch, trying not to think about coffee.

-- Okay, horribly boring place to stop, I know. So sue me. (Actually, don't. I've got about fourteen bucks at the moment). Did anyone notice the Magic Trek Number? It appears twice. The Number is so omniscient that it makes its way even to the Trek Fandom. Also, the name Delcara is taken from the TNG novel Vendetta. She's a beautiful woman who's out to get the Borg in a ship that's scarier than even their cubes. And Picard has decided to get in her way (sort of). It makes for an interesting read. If you're a TNG fan, go take a look. Angela's Ashes is a good book, too. It's not ST, but you should read it anyway. --


	4. Dinner

--Disclaimer-- Paramount owns all rights to characters, sets, yadda yadda yadda. I own nothing but the plots. All hail Paramount and TPTB…unless of course you're referring to Endgame. Then shoot them.

--Warning-- I am an avid J/Cer. If you are offended by this, do not keep reading. The following material may contain oodles of unbelievably cheesy J/C. Deal with it.

--R/R ing-- Please r/r. Flames welcome, as long as they're not along the lines of 'I hate this story. It sucks.' Flames gotta have a REASON. Then I'm fine. 

--A/N-- SCHOOL IS OUT! Well, it's been out for a few weeks. I've just been…kind of bored and disgusted with where this story is going, to tell the truth. It's too sappy and cheesy and detailed and not light enough. This is supposed to be a funny, light story. Not a heavy, boring J/C, ending in a deux ex machina. No me gusta. Also, I'll be in Europe for the next couple weeks, so no update for awhile.

Anyway, The romance starts here. Sort of. Well, you'll see. It gets less humorous and more heavy in this chapter, but I'm trying my best to lighten the mood. Happy reading :)

--Another A/N -- I hate it when people write in all caps, but…DID ANYONE ELSE BUY HOMECOMING PART 1? IT'S…CRAZY. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT AS CANON. It's well written, but Christie Golden's work always seems a little bit forced and unoriginal. One more bone to pick…Chakotay DOES NOT have family. They are DEAD. Pathways CLEARLY states that Chakotay's family was killed on Dorvan V by the Cardassians. So he couldn't possibly have a sister and a mother as shown in Homecoming. Blah. Here's the story.

--Coffee Problems--

--Chapter 4 – Dinner--

Kathryn rang the door chime to her first officer's quarters.

"Come in," a voice called from inside.

She stepped inside the doorframe, and paused in amazement. Although the lights were off, numerous candles were placed strategically around the room, giving off enough illumination to be able to see. The air faintly smelled of roses, and, in the shadows, Kathryn could vaguely make out the shapes of vases filled with flowers. The table was covered with an elegant, lacy cloth, and a single candle illuminated a single maroon rose.

She was interrupted out of her romantic reverie by Chakotay calling her name. "Kathryn? Are you ready for dinner?"

"What? Oh- yes. Of course. Chakotay, this is gorgeous. Why- ," she broke off suddenly and blushed.

He grinned at her, dimples flashing. "Kathryn, just relax and enjoy it."

"Yes, sir," she countered with a smile. "Oh, by the way, this is for you." She handed him the book she had replicated earlier, and he put it on a nearby shelf.

"Thank you, Kathryn. Sit down. I'm just going to get dinner. I'll be right back." He left the room, leaving Kathryn alone with her thoughts. This was all so pretty. It must have taken Chakotay ages to put all the candles in the right place and replicate all those roses. Sometimes it seemed like that man had far too many rations for his own good.

Chakotay stepped back into the room, laden with a tureen and a bottle of wine. Kathryn could smell the spicy aroma rising from the dish, and her mouth began to water. He gently set it down and spooned thick, meaty soup into two delicate bowls. The scent of thyme and rosemary combined with rich broth tantalized Kathryn's deprived senses. Pouring the wine into glasses already on the table, Chakotay sat down, and he grinned at the expression on her face. 

"A penny for your thoughts."

"Oh…well…this all looks so delicious, but I wasn't expecting anything fancy. I told you that I would be fine with-"

"That you would be fine with something simple," he interrupted. "Yes, I know. But I though it would be fun to make something tastier and more complicated. Plus, I felt sorry for you."

"For me?"

"Yeah. With no coffee, you would need something that at least tasted good."

Kathryn laughed. "Thanks for reminding me, Chakotay. I was almost beginning to forget about my lack of coffee."

"Anytime, Kathryn. Now, are we going to talk all night, or are we going to actually eat this food?"

In response, she merely gulped down a large spoonful of the soup, sighing in delight. Chakotay raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Instead, he started to drink his own soup as well. They ate in silence; Kathryn was relishing the first real food she'd had in days, and Chakotay made no attempt to push her into conversation. After both their bowls were empty, he flashed her another grin.

"I'm going to get the entrée. Stay put." He was back in a minute, carrying a dish filled with pasta. He cleared the bowls and set the dish of pasta onto the table. The simple fettuccine alfredo was a perfect compliment to the stew that had preceded it. Chakotay handed her a fork. Taking some pasta onto her own plate, Kathryn took a bite. It was every bit as rich as the soup. But then, what else could she expect from her diligent first officer?

"So…I've been wondering. Have you had any coffee cravings yet?"

She made a face. "Plenty, in fact. I tried to read a book earlier, but I realized I had no idea what I'd just read. I gave up after that and went to take a bath. These random thoughts about coffee kept springing into my head. It was horrible."

He laughed. "Kathryn, you have no idea how incredibly funny this is. You're forcing yourself not to drink coffee. Do you know how long we've all been trying to get you to do that?"

"Oh, shut up. Commander," she deadpanned, with heavy emphasis on the rank.

"Aye, aye, Captain."

Suddenly, Kathryn began to feel dizzy, but she chalked it up to fatigue and the discovery of her recent allergy. Shaking her head, she smiled at Chakotay.

"Kathryn? You okay?"

She shook her head again and said, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

"Okay…but if you don't feel well, make sure to go to sick- Kathryn?"

She had collapsed into her pasta; luckily, her arm was covering her face, saving Kathryn from a faceful of fettuccine. Still, that wasn't good.

"Oh, hell. Chakotay to Sickbay. Kathryn's passed out. Beam us directly there."


End file.
